


7teen: Say So

by Jupiter_Queen



Series: 7teen, Season 1 [11]
Category: 6teen
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 17:58:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16202693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jupiter_Queen/pseuds/Jupiter_Queen
Summary: Episode 11: After Caitlin gets her heart broken at Jonesy's pool party, Jen decides that a group sleepover will help her feel better. Truth or Dare, a video-game war, and awkward talks about sex ensue.





	1. Truth or...

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published to Fanfiction.Net in August 2018.
> 
> Warning: Profanity, drug references, sexual content, and crude humor.
> 
> ...Every fandom needs its sleepover story, right?

Another day. Another job.

Though she didn't have to report to the Penalty Box today, Jen took on a different shift: heartbreak-mitigation duty.

Seeing that Jen was the only early bird within the gang and Caitlin could hardly sleep with heartbreak on her brain, she called Jen and poured out all her feelings about Benj. She didn't sob in Jen's ear once—admitting to being "all cried out" after yesterday—but her voice remained quite lovelorn.

"I really thought about us being together in the long-term," she confessed. "I wanted him to be my prom date and  _everything_."

Although that differed from Jen's idea of "long-term," she still offered, "Aw, Cait, I'm sorry… Listen, if Nick and I aren't together by the time prom comes around,  _I'll_  be your prom date."

Caitlin sniffled. "...Really?"

"Yes, really. Just because you-know-who isn't your boyfriend anymore doesn't mean you should go stag at  _prom_."

"Thanks, Jen. You really are the best friend ever."

"And so are you, which is why I'm gonna do whatever it takes to cheer you up. So, is there anything you need me to do?"

"No. You being on the phone is enough for me."

Despite Caitlin's inability to see it, Jen smiled.

"Anyways, I think I'm gonna go back to sleep for a couple hours. I'm kinda tired."

Jen glanced over at her nightstand, checking the time on the alarm clock.  _9:15am._

 _Wow_ , she thought. They had been on the phone for a little over two hours now.

"Yeah, you should probably go and get some rest. Before you go, though: are you free later?"

Caitlin whimpered. "I was supposed to go to dinner with Benj tonight, but now my night is wide open, I guess."

"Well, how about we hang out instead?"

After a moment of silence, she said, "That works," in a frail tone.

"Great. Make sure you take it easy—okay, Caitlin?"

"I'll try," she replied. "I'll text you when I wake up."

"'Kay. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

 _Click_.

Now that their call ended, Jen could really begin her day. She went downstairs and fixed herself some breakfast—eggs, toast, and orange juice—seeing that most (if not all) mornings, everyone was on their own for breakfast in the Masterson-Garcia home. Afterwards, she went about dusting and vacuuming, the latter being the usual task that woke Jonesy up on Saturday mornings.

Just as she vacuumed the last untouched part of the living-room carpet, Jonesy appeared in his blue robe and bear-claw slippers.

"Do you  _really_  have to do that this early?" he asked.

"Do you  _really_  have to ask me that every weekend?"

"I will until you stop."

"Well, I guess you'll be asking me 'til we graduate."

"Fine," he said, walking into the kitchen.

"Besides," she called to him, "I'm trying to have some company over later."

"Oh, really?" he asked as he poured some Lucky Charms. "Finally inviting your boyfriend over for a little 'action,' huh?"

As he chuckled obnoxiously, she asserted, " _No_. Get your mind out of the gutter, Jonesy." She rolled her eyes. "I'm thinking of inviting the gang over for a sleepover, that's all."

After pouring milk into his bowl, he said, "Oooh, what for?"

She sat on the couch. "Well, Caitlin's so down about breaking up with Benj that I don't think she should be alone right now. I just think she needs to be around us to take her mind off him."

He came back out with his bowl of cereal and plopped next to her on the couch. "Oh, damn. Sorry that happened to princess."

"Yeah, I am, too." She briefly looked away, feeling bad for her best friend. "So, would you stay in if the gang came over later?"

"What kinda question is that? Of course I would." He tried to recall the last time the entire group spent the night together. "Shit, I think the last sleepover we had was on  _New Year's_."

Jen's jaw almost dropped. Had it been nearly  _six_  months since the last group sleepover? "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," he said with a mouth full of Lucky Charms, "'cause it was a couple weeks before me and Nikki got back together." He looked as though he had an epiphany, then devilishly smirked. "Oh, I am  _so_  down for tonight."

Jen eyed him curiously, wondering what made him perk up before pushing the thought away.  _I don't even wanna know._

"Anyways," she said, "I'll text the gang and ask if they're free."

"Cool."

She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and made a new group chat consisting of everyone except Caitlin. She asked if they were all available to spend the night at her and Jonesy's, seeing that Caitlin could probably use their moral support.

Minutes later, she exclaimed,  _Yes!_  inside her head once she received everyone's replies.

"Looks like we're having a sleepover tonight!" she said, flashing Jonesy an excited smile.

" _Sweet_."

"Now all I have to do is tell Cait—" She stopped in her tracks once she received a text from Caitlin herself, letting Jen know she was wide awake. Once Jen texted her back, asking her to come over later with an overnight bag, she felt elated. "Oh, I love it when a plan comes together!"

"You and me both, sis."

* * *

Hours later, most of the gang arrived and occupied the living room. The girls, minus Caitlin, sat next to each other in the middle of the couch while Jonesy and Wyatt sat on both ends.

"Is it lame that I'm kinda excited for tonight?" Sydni asked.

"Of course not," Jen said. "Why would it be lame?"

She shrugged. "Because, you know, it's my first sleepover with y'all. I feel like I'm about to be in on some sort of tradition or something."

Nikki smirked. "I mean, it's nothing that special. We usually just eat junk food, play games we should've left behind in middle school, and go to sleep at an ungodly hour."

"You're saying that like you don't have fun, Nik," Jen said.

"Oh, I definitely have fun with you guys; I'm just keeping it real."

"Well," Sydni said, "good thing I like junk food, old games, and sleep deprivation."

Nikki chuckled just as the doorbell rang.

Jen immediately sprung from the couch. "Oh, I bet that's Caitlin!"

"Five bucks says it's Jude," Jonesy said behind her back.

"Five bucks says it's actually Caitlin," Wyatt challenged.

"You're on."

Jen, eager to see the woman of the hour on the front steps, bypassed looking through the peephole to open the front door.

With a beaming smile, she greeted, "Hey, Cait— Oh, my bad." Even though the person at the door was a blonde friend of hers, it was definitely  _not_  Caitlin. "Hey, Jude. Come on in."

"Don't mind if I do," he said, flashing a grin at her.

As he strolled into the living room with a backpack strewn over his shoulder, Wyatt sighed, realizing he lost five dollars.

"Ante up," Jonesy said with his palm outstretched.

Wyatt reached into his pocket and pulled out a fiver, fighting his reluctance to put it in Jonesy's hand.

"Ha! Easy money."

"Why am I not surprised you always know when it's Jude?" Nikki asked with a grin.

Upon hearing his name, Jude asked, "Huh?"

"Nothing. I'm asking Jonesy if he's got some sort of tracker on you or something."

Jude squinted at his best friend, almost as if he was trying to peer through him. "Hmm… Well, do ya?"

Jonesy scoffed. "Does that even sound like a thing?"

"Dude tracker?" Nikki asked. "I can totally believe it."

The other girls and Wyatt laughed.

Jonesy rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

After a momentary silence, Jude mused, "Do ya really have some sort of tracker on me, bro?"

"Dude, how stoned are you right now?"

" _Very_." He chuckled before asking Jen, "By the way, got any snackage, bra? I'm gettin' kinda hungry."

"There's snacks in the kitchen," she replied. "And I ordered pizza not too long before you got here."

" _Suh-weet_ ," he drawled as he headed towards the kitchen.

"I find it hard to separate 'high Jude' from 'regular Jude,'" Wyatt noted.

Nikki added, "Especially when the lingering smell of weed goes away after a while."

"That's so deadass," Sydni started, "because he smelled really strong when I met him and now it's just… nothing."

"Stink cycle, dudes," Jude said as he walked back in the room with his hand in a bag of chips and his mouth full of them. "Starts out a lil gnarly, then fades outta existence."

"Spoken by the expert," Nikki said.

"Truly," Jonesy agreed, flashing Nikki a sly smile.

She grinned back at him for a moment, having her attention focused on him before Jude spoke again.

He beamed. "Anyways, I have some wicked news for everyone!" The gang stared at him in curiosity. A beat later, he said, "Wait—my bad—it's really only for Jonesy and Wyatt."

The guys eyed him.

"What is it?" Wyatt asked as the doorbell rang.

"Well, whatever it is has to wait," Jen said. "I bet that's Caitlin… for  _real_  this time."

Jonesy smirked. "Hey, Wyatt, how much do you wanna bet it's the pizza instead of princess?"

"Oh, no, I'm not losing another five dollars to you."

"Suit yourself."

* * *

After ringing the doorbell, Caitlin stood on the Masterson-Garcias' front steps with a baby-pink duffle bag in hand.

She wondered whether tonight would be a sleepover with just Jen or all her girls, seeing that Sydni only lived a few houses away and she swore she saw Nikki's car in the driveway. Then again, maybe Nikki and Jonesy had plans for the evening.

 _At least_ somebody  _does_ , she thought before the front door opened.

Jen appeared before her, exclaiming, "Caitlin, you made it!"

She found herself pulled into a warm hug, not unlike the kind she liked to give others on her better days. When Jen let go, Caitlin gave her a bittersweet smile.

"So, how are you holding up?"

"Okay, I guess," she said, the lovelorn tone from earlier pervading her voice. "I just still feel so down in the dumps."

"Well, I  _know_  you'll feel better once you step inside," Jen said, ushering her into the house.

She didn't know what to anticipate when she walked into the living room—assuming that perhaps Nikki and Sydni were here after all—but she didn't expect to see the rest of the gang.

"Ohmygosh!" she exclaimed, turning the three words into one. For the first time since she and Benj broke up yesterday, her lips upturned into a kilowatt smile. Her heart felt aglow.

"Surprised to see us, princess?" Jonesy asked with a knowing grin.

" _Totally_ ," she said, looking at all her friends' wonderful faces. "Aww, this just made my day!"

"Pssht, the day hasn't even started yet," he said. "Just kick back and relax. Pizza's on the way, snacks are in the kitchen, and your homies are all here."

A portion of her signature vibrance returned. She put her bag on the floor and ran to give him a hug. He always knew how to make her feel right at home.

"Hey," Jude interjected with arms outstretched, "I want a hug, too."

She smiled as she parted from Jonesy. "Luckily there's plenty of hugs to go around."

Given the kinds of hugs she ambushed them with, maybe today would be one of her better days after all.

Her friends gave her a much-needed boost of dopamine. Jude, Jonesy, and Wyatt were the brothers she never had. Likewise for Nikki, Jen, and even Sydni—they were her sisters. In times of heartbreak like this, she was reminded of the extended family she'd found within the gang. No matter the pain, they brought her the remedy through presence alone.

When she parted from Jude, she plopped next to him on the couch. "You guys don't even  _know_  how happy I am right now."

Seeing how low and blue Caitlin had been yesterday, Nikki said, "Glad to hear that, Barbie."

She wasn't sure if her smile ever left her lips.

* * *

After the pizza finally arrived and the gang ate until they were content, the girls put their bags in Jen's room, the guys put their bags in Jonesy's, and they all linked up to sit around on Jonesy's carpet.

"Okay," Jonesy said, grabbing an empty beer bottle from his nightstand. "Time for truth or dare, amigos."

Nikki nudged Sydni on the arm. "Here's the 'games we should've left behind' portion of the night."

Jonesy put the bottle on its side in the middle of the floor. "So, anyone want first dibs or should I go first?"

No one responded.

"Guess I'm going first then," he said. He spun the bottle around and around and watched as it slowed down. He smirked at the game's first player. "Alright, Sydni: truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Predictable."

"Hey, I just don't wanna find out what your idea of a dare is."

 _Cough_. "Chicken."  _Cough._

She crossed her arms. "Knock it off, Jonesy."

"Yeah,  _shut up_ , Jonesy," Nikki said, glaring at him from across the circle.

"Anyways," Sydni asked, "what's your question?"

"Hmm," he said. "Okay, since I know you don't do much: what's the wildest shit you've ever  _seen_  at a party?"

She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Well, my friend Mickey threw a homecoming afterparty last year and things got super brazy. This one guy got so crossfaded that he went streaking through her house before throwing up in the front yard and passing out. Then somebody  _else_  got high on xans and almost jumped off the roof. Oh,  _and_ one of my friends heard that this girl gave head in the woods and got poison ivy from it. So… yeah… That was the wildest night of my whole-ass existence."

" _Duuuuude_ , that's wild," Jude said.

Jonesy agreed. "No kidding. Damn, Syd, I didn't know you rolled like that."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "It's not really me; I just happen to have some wild friends."

"Opposites attract, huh?"

She shot him a dirty look.

"What? I'm just saying. You're not exactly 'out there,' you know?"

"Oh no, I'm very aware. We can't all be extroverts."

"I'm not an extrovert either, if that helps," Wyatt said.

"Same here," Nikki confessed.

Caitlin's eyes widened. "But you're so  _outspoken_."

"Yeah, what she said," Jude said. "You're one of the boldest chicks  _ever_."

Nikki shrugged. "Introversion has nothing to do with shyness. It's more about whether people drain you or not, and—trust me—people drain the  _hell_  out of me."

"And then there's me: the shy introvert," Sydni said, raising her hand with timidity.

"In that case, it's your turn, shy introvert," Jonesy said.

She reached in the center of the gang's circle, spinning the bottle around. This time, it fell upon Jen.

"Okay: truth or dare?" Sydni asked.

"Hmm, I'll go with  _dare_ ," she replied.

"Okay, I dare you to"—her eyes wandered around Jonesy's room until she saw a pile of dirty laundry—"hit Jonesy with one of his dirty gym socks."

"Hey!" he exclaimed with a furrowed brow.

Jen giggled as she got up and grabbed a sock. "Sorry, stepbro, but a dare's a dare."

He shut his eyes tightly when she approached him, readying himself for the hit.

She smirked as she thwacked him upside the face with the dirty sock, much to his chagrin.

While she tossed the sock aside and took her place in the circle again, Jonesy deadpanned, "Ha  _ha_. Very funny, Sydni."

Ignoring his displeasure, she said, "Thanks! Your turn, Jen."

Jen spun the bottle, which landed on Nikki this time.

"Okay, Nik: truth or dare?"

"You know what? I'm in the mood for truth."

Her best friend grinned.

"What?"

" _Well_ , since you're up for truth, I've always wanted to know: did you and Jonesy ever hook up between breaking up and getting back together?"

Caitlin and Jude went  _oooh_ , and the whole gang (minus Jonesy) stared at Nikki with burning curiosity. Jonesy merely sat with a content expression upon his face.

"Well, did ya?" Jude asked.

A recollection of Jonesy's lips brushing up against Nikki's own flashed across her mind. Her temperature ran hot under everyone's gaze.

After moments of silence and anticipation building up, she revealed, "We did."

"I  _knew_  it!" Jen said, quick to point her finger at Nikki.

"OMG!" Caitlin exclaimed. "When did this happen?"

Nikki averted her eyes, glancing out of the window to the left of her. "During midterms last semester. We were supposed to be studying at my place,"—she looked across at Jonesy—"but he somehow ended up making out with me instead."

He gave her a boyish smile, not unlike the charming one he gave her that day. "Guilty as charged, babe."

Jen's prying sent Nikki back to her living-room couch a few months ago. They'd been broken up for two months at that point, and each day her mind lingered over the  _what if_ s. Nevertheless, they decided to hold a platonic study session together. In retrospect, she should've known that studying with him would never result in any  _actual_  studying. Rather, it always led to him pining over her and her scolding herself for reciprocating such pining.

They'd gone from reviewing Canadian history to revisiting their own when he leaned into her. He brushed his lips against hers, further fueling the small fire within her.

She gently pulled herself away from him and sighed. " _Jonesy_."

"Nik," he said, his voice gentle. "I really miss you."

"And I miss you, too, but we can't do this right now."

"Well, if we both miss each other, then why not?"

"Because… now's not the right time. You know I just broke up with Stone. And then we've got these exams, and I know I don't wanna be thinking about us when I'm supposed to be thinking about the French and Indian War."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Like clockwork, the boyish grin she adored appeared on his face. "Is it bad I still wanna kiss you, though?"

She gulped. Her gaze lingered over his brown eyes, then his coy-smiling lips which were somehow centimeters away from her own again. "No… it's not bad at all."

They then went for it, kissing each other on her couch—only stopping when they heard her mom nearby. When both of them had come to their senses, they'd agreed to wait until later to discuss any plans of getting back together.

Of course, later never arrived. It was something between them they'd left unspoken—until today.

"Ooh, I always had a feeling something happened between you two!" Caitlin interjected, with her statement receiving support from Jen.

 _If only they knew about what happened last night_ , Nikki thought with a mental snort.

However, such a quip reminded her of last night's events and how she didn't want their  _let's talk about this tomorrow_  to turn into another  _later_  and an eventual  _never_. She didn't want it to become another unexpected development in their relationship that got overlooked because they opted to put it off.

Since a boundary was crossed, they needed to redefine the lines as soon as possible.

"You okay, Nikki?" Wyatt asked.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I was saying it's your turn, but you kinda zoned out for a second."

"Yeah, babe," Jonesy said, "you had a Jude moment there."

Snapping out of his daydreams, Jude looked around at the mention of his name. "Huh?"

The rest of the gang laughed.

"I rest my case," Jonesy said with a chuckle. "Anyways, your turn, Nik."

"Okay," she said, reaching out and spinning the bottle. This time it landed upon Caitlin. "Alright, Blondie, you know the drill."

"Okay… Hmm… I choose  _dare_."

"Interesting," Nikki noted with a wicked smirk. "Okay, I dare you to let me choose the worst photo from your camera roll and put it on your Instagram."

Her eyes widened. " _What_?!"

"You heard me," Nikki said, such a smirk remaining on her face. "And you have to keep it up there for a  _day_."

"Ooh, that's a good one," Jen said.

Caitlin's grip around her cellphone tightened. "Don't encourage her!"

"I dunno, Cait," Jude said. "it's a pretty funny dare."

Caitlin stared at Jonesy, hoping he'd side with her.

He shrugged. "You gotta go through with it… unless you're  _chicken_."

As she sat there and clutched her phone against her chest, Jonesy started clucking at her with glee. The rest of the group joined him.

"Okay, fine! Just go easy on me." She unlocked her phone and handed it to a satisfied Nikki, murmuring, "I knew I should've deleted all my ugly selfies."

She scrolled through Caitlin's photo gallery, musing, "Wow, there's some  _gems_  on here."

"Hey, a  _lot_  goes into posting the perfect selfie!" she said before putting her face into her palma. On the bright side, at least she unfollowed Benj on all her socials the night before. That made this moment less disastrous.

A few seconds later, Nikki couldn't stop laughing after finding the (im)perfect photo. She showed everyone in the group except for Caitlin herself, only letting Caitlin see it once it was uploaded on Instagram.

In the photo, Caitlin's emerald eyes were opened far too wide and her smile was way too perky.

"I look  _insane_ ," she said.

Nikki chuckled. "C'mon, Caitlin, it's not that bad."

"Yeah, Cait," Jen said. "You still look really cute in it."

She sobered. "...I do?"

"Of course. You look kinda over-eager, but cute."

Jude gave her the  _okay_  hand gesture. "Totally smokin', bra."

Caitlin grinned softly. "Aww. Thanks, guys."

"Now that a crisis is averted," Nikki joked, "it's your turn."

She complied and spun the bottle, watching it point at… "Wyatt: truth or dare?"

He grinned warmly. "Easy:  _truth_."

"Boo," Jonesy heckled, causing Jude to snicker.

Wyatt ignored them, feeling a sense of calm—until Caitlin asked her question.

"Are you dating anybody right now?"

His insides froze.

 _Oh, no. No, no, no._  He mentally groaned.  _Just say_ something _. It'll look suspicious if you keep quiet_.

"No, not right now. Why?" he asked, keeping his voice even and his expression unbothered.

_Please don't tell me she found out. I mean, there's no way… right? I know I'm not the best at sneaking around, but there's no way she knows about me and—_

" _Because…_ I wanna fix you up!" She giggled and beamed at him (albeit not in the same overzealous way as her latest Instagram post). "I just thought that maybe setting you up on a few dates might help me get over Benj. It's like: If  _I'm_  not with someone I really like, maybe I can help one of my friends find someone they'll really like."

He averted his eyes, staring at the beige carpet on which they all sat. "I don't know, Caitlin."

"Please, please,  _please_ , Wyatt. I know some really great girls who'd  _love_  to go out with a guy like you."

He looked at her face once more and found himself entranced by her wounded, puppy-adjacent expression. He sighed.

 _Why do I feel like I'm gonna regret this?_  "Sure. I'll do it."

She got up from her spot and ambushed him with a hug. "Thanks, Wyatt! You're the best!"

Despite his unease, he gave her a tiny grin.

Once she sat back down, he spun the bottle, which pointed towards Jude.

"Okay, Jude: truth or dare?" Wyatt asked.

" _Dare_  all the way, bro," Jude said.

"Hmm…" Wyatt said, trying to think of something. Between freaking out about Caitlin unearthing his secret relationship and lying to cover his behind once more, he encountered a brain fart when trying to come up with a good dare for Jude. "Sorry, man, I really can't think of anything."

"Come on, man. You can't think of  _anything_?" Jonesy asked. "Get him to eat a Tide pod or something for crying out loud."

Jude shrugged. "I'm down."

"Let's  _not_  have Jude rushed to the emergency room," Jen said as she squinted at Jonesy.

"Would you have  _really_  eaten one of those Tide pods?" Wyatt asked Jude in disbelief.

"…Yeah."

He facepalmed himself. This  _was_  Jude, after all.

"Shit, Jude," Nikki started, "did you outsmoke your last few brain cells?"

He replied with a chuckle and a  _maybe so_.

"Oh, brother," Jen said, joining Wyatt in facepalming herself. "Maybe instead of waiting for Wyatt to come up with a dare and Jonesy trying to send Jude to the hospital—"

"Hey, I was just joking! He didn't have to take it  _literally_."

"—Jude should just go with truth."

"That's fine with me," Jude said. "I can do that."

"...I really can't think of any good truth questions either," Wyatt said.

"Wow, lame," Jonesy interjected.

Ignoring him, Wyatt continued, "If anyone wants to throw something out there that they wanna ask Jude, then I'm okay with that."

"Hmm." Mischief engulfed Nikki's expression. "You know, Jude, I've been curious about something," she said while stroking her chin. "Who was your first kiss?"

Much like Wyatt before, he froze. "St-Starr. It was totally Starr."

"Really? Because, when we hung out yesterday, you alluded to it being with somebody  _else_."

He scratched the back of his head through his tuque. "Um…"

"You know you're not the best liar, right? And you're not the best secret-keeper either, so you might as well confess."

"Okay,  _fine_ ," Jude said. "My first kiss was with Jonesy."

His best friend groaned.

"Shut  _up!_ " Caitlin exclaimed with her jaw agape and her eyes fixed upon Jonesy.

Wyatt's expression existed somewhere between shock and sheer amusement. "No  _way_."

"It was a complete accident!" Jonesy exclaimed, flailing his arms through the air.

Through her cackling, Nikki asked, "How did the two of you end up kissing on  _accident?_ "

"Jonesy was teachin' me how to kiss so I could know what to do with Starr, but he was giving off these  _vibes_ , man!"

"Kiss-the- _chick_  vibes, Jude! Not kiss- _me_  vibes!"

"My bad!" Once the gang's amusement wore off and the two boys calmed down, Jude said, "Y'know, now that I think about it, though, it wasn't a such a bad kiss."

Jonesy groaned once more. Not only did he have to relive the embarrassment of being kissed by the wrong best friend, but he also had to hear that it was  _good?_  "Ugh,  _dude_."

Sydni giggled. "Watch out, Nikki: Jude might take your man."

* * *

After a few more rounds of Truth or Dare came and went, the gang tried to settle upon what else they would do for the night.

"Hey, Jude," Wyatt said, "what was that big surprise you were gonna tell me and Jonesy about earlier?"

"Oh, yeah," Jude said once he was reminded, "guess who got first dibs on  _Fortwatch_  cuz of the game store?"

"No way!" Jonesy exclaimed.

"For real?" Wyatt asked.

Jude nodded. "Yup."

"I've been waiting for months for that to come out!" Wyatt said.

"What the hell is  _Fortwatch_?" Nikki asked, interrupting the guys' video-game euphoria.

"Only the coolest, most intense, sci-fi survival game on  _planet earth_!" Jude said, flailing his arms around for emphasis.

"Is there anything about it that's like  _SimuMall_  or  _The Sims_?" Caitlin asked, seeing that those were two of the only video games that ever piqued her interest. (Although, there  _was_  a Barbie video game she loved to play when she was younger.)

"Nah, not really. It's more of a shooter game," Jude replied.

"Oh," she said as she turned to the girls. "No wonder only the guys are interested."

"I guess it's gonna be a real nerdfest in here tonight," Nikki said, much to the guys' chagrin.

"Hey!" Wyatt exclaimed.

Nikki crossed her arms and quirked her pierced eyebrow, giving him a look that asked, " _Am I wrong, though?"_

He sighed in reply.

"Thought so."

"Don't worry, we'll be out of here ASAP," Jen said.

The girls dipped and headed to Jen's room, leaving the boys to their own devices.

However, after they left and Jonesy set up his game console, his brothers swooped in.

"What are  _you two_  doing in here?" Jonesy asked with annoyance in his voice. He felt it in his bones that they were eager to start some shit.

"We just wanna see what you're playing, big bro," Diego spoke.

"It's a great game called  _None of Your Damn Business_."

"Ha.  _Funny_."

After a tense silence, Robbie ambushed Jonesy and snatched the game from him. He looked at the game's case, and his eyes widened. "Yo, they've got  _Fortwatch_!"

"No way!" Diego exclaimed.

"Yes way—and you two aren't playing it," Jonesy said, snatching it from Robbie.

"Oh, yes we are," Diego said, snatching it back from Jonesy.

He snatched it again from Diego. "Yeah, right. Now  _scram_."

Diego crossed his arms. "We'll leave once we get the game."

Jonesy raised his arm straight into the air, keeping the game out of his brothers' reach, especially short Robbie, who began jumping up and down in an attempt to grab it. Their oldest brother smirked. "I guess you're gonna be watching us play it all night then."

" _Or_  I could tell dad and Emma what  _really_  happened yesterday," Diego said.

His smirk evaporated. "You  _wouldn't_."

"Try me."

"Ugh," Jonesy groaned. "Fine, take the freaking game."

"Nice doing business with you," Diego said with a smug look.

Once Jonesy's brothers left, Wyatt asked, "Now what?"

Jonesy sat on his bed with his upper body slumped in defeat. "I have no idea."

* * *

With their pajamas on, the girls sat around in Jen's room. A random Netflix movie played in the background as they talked. Though Nikki, Jen, and Caitlin always tried to actually watch the movie they selected together, their conversations took precedence over the plot. Even with Sydni added to the mix, tonight was no different. They discussed Jen's ascension from being student-council secretary in the tenth grade to being vice president in the eleventh to being senior-class president in the fall. They talked about articles Sydni planned on writing for her blog—which she recently retitled from  _I Swear I'm Sane_  to  _As Bambi Blogs_. They also chatted about Nikki's plans to visit her dream school, Banting University, in a couple weeks.

"I'm finally gonna hear about their poly-sci program from an  _actual_  student in that major," Nikki said.

"Oooh, really?" Jen asked.

"Yep. I got an email about it from the university the other day. The girl I'm supposed to be staying with is a second-year student, and—get this—she also minors in journalism."

"Wow, that's your whole career plan right there."

"I know! Hopefully she's just as cool in real life as she is on paper; it'd be nice to get to know somebody who actually goes to the school." Seeing that she, Jen, and Sydni had already spoken about their lives at the moment, Nikki asked, "So, Blondie, how are things going with you? You know, aside from what happened yesterday."

"Oh, things are okay, I guess," Caitlin replied. "I'm better now that I'm with you guys."

"Well, how's college prep going?" Jen asked.

"It's going fine. I'm starting to look into more schools with fashion design as a major, and I've been coming across a lot of stuff. I'm even been sketching some design ideas."

"That's good!" Jen said, glad that she was doing more than just sulking over boys.

"Thanks," Caitlin said with a soft smile.

Jen knew what a lovelorn Caitlin looked like. She still had a gleam of sadness in her eyes, a smile with dialed-down intensity, and a voice that lacked strong emotive qualities. Though it seemed like Caitlin was feeling better during Truth or Dare, it was evident to Jen that she wasn't yet cured of her heartbreak. She felt a resolution in her heart to help mend Caitlin's heartbreak by the end of the night. By the time the gang went to sleep, Jen assured herself that Caitlin would be bubblier than ever. She'd be smiling with liveliness, devoid of sadness in her eyes, and giggling with unbridled joy before she left for her home tomorrow. Jen made it her personal mission.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, as her friends quieted down and took to actually watching the movie, Nikki's mind drifted to earlier's game of Truth or Dare. She hadn't thought about that post-breakup, pre-makeup hookup in  _ages_ —not since the week it happened, if she was being honest with herself.

The difference between that incident and last night, however, was that last night would never leave her alone. The sparks—no, the  _lightning_  between her and Jonesy rendered itself quite unforgettable. Unlike before, she wasn't adversed to letting him make her feel like that again. She just wanted to talk to him, making sure they  _both_  knew where things were headed, especially before another situation like this happened and caused a storm they weren't prepared for.

Nope. They were going to talk about it right now.

She didn't care about the guys' all-night nerdfest surrounding their game. They could get back to it  _after_  she and Jonesy had their discussion. Right now, her relationship took precedence.

She stood up from her friends' huddle on the floor around Jen's television. "I'll be back. I gotta go talk to Jonesy," she said, walking out of Jen's room afterwards.

* * *

Before Sydni knew it, midway through the movie, Jen and Caitlin were conversing with each other.

She glanced over at them, noticing the invisible bubble that surrounded them. They looked like the best of friends within it. They looked happy and safe. In fact, Caitlin appeared much more jovial, not unlike during Truth or Dare a couple hours ago. While glad that Jen was able to lift Caitlin's spirits after the disaster that was yesterday's pool party, Sydni wished that they could make some room for her in that bubble of two. She wanted to help Caitlin get to a better place without Benj, too. She felt like she owed it to her. After all, Caitlin  _was_  in the midst of helping Sydni grab Alejandro's attention when Benj split her heart in half.

However, the Nikki-Tristan debacle reminded her to remain calm about Jen and Caitlin. Besides, the latter two knew each other longer than Nikki and Tristan. They had an already-established dynamic, something Sydni was still forging with Jen and Caitlin individually. Still, longing to be invited into their bubble, she briefly reminisced on the days where she, Danielle, and Michaela all hung out in a bubble of their own—a place where the world couldn't even touch them.

Since her two best friends were nowhere in sight, Sydni had to rely on something she had an already-established dynamic with: her phone. Thus, she entered her passcode and unlocked a way to entertain herself as Jen and Caitlin talked amongst themselves.

She sent her friends from home a message in their group chat, reminding them of how she missed them and asking what their plans for the evening were. Even though she wasn't in Baltimore anymore, she could at least amuse herself from afar with what her friends would get themselves into tonight.

As she awaited a reply, she scrolled through social media, looking at people looking happy in photos surrounded by their friends, looking at people looking in love with their significant others.

While she continued to scroll, her phone vibrated once in her hands, with a notification demanding her attention. She glanced at the text message on her notification screen, and her heart nearly lept from her chest.

 _Shit_.


	2. Dare

"Rest in peace,  _Fortwatch_. We hardly knew thee."

"Jude, the game isn't dead," Wyatt said. "It just got taken from us."

"Taken from us  _too soon!_ " Jude countered. "Isn't that  _like_  being dead?"

"Dude's got a point," Jonesy said. He sighed long and hard. "This  _bites_. I've been looking forward to this game all summer, and I can't even take it back from my wack-ass brothers or else they're gonna snitch on me. Great."

Wyatt sighed, too. "I guess it's not meant to be."

"Can we at least find something else to play instead?" Jude whined. "My hands are  _begging_  me to let 'em hold a controller. They're suffering from game deprivation 'n' stuff."

"I guess I can try to find something." Jonesy got off his bed and searched the shelf beneath his television that held his game collection. He pulled out a few options for them to choose from. "Okay:  _Assassin's Creed_ ,  _GTA_ ,  _Call of Duty_ , or  _Overnite_?"

Jude and Wyatt glanced at each other. " _Call of Duty_ ," they chorused.

"Bet," Jonesy said.

He went ahead and set everything up, putting the disk in his game console and giving the controllers to his friends.

"You know what, guys?" he asked after a few minutes of them playing, feeling a swell of determination in his chest. "I think we can make the most of this. Maybe we can finesse this into being even  _more_  fun than  _Fortwatch_."

* * *

Later, Jonesy sighed as he put their game on pause. "This just doesn't feel the same, especially when I know what we  _could_  be playing."

"Yeah," Jude said, "it's really not as fun."

"So, should we stop playing?" Wyatt asked.

"Hell no—I'm kicking both your asses right now," Jonesy said.

* * *

After closing Jen's bedroom door, Nikki stood in the middle of the hallway, looking across at Jonesy's bedroom door. As she inched closer, she ran through all the points she planned on making to him in her head, feeling assured when she put her hand on the doorknob. She opened the bedroom door to find her boyfriend, Wyatt, and Jude playing a video game.

"Oh, look, am I interrupting boys night in?" she asked in a dry tone as she walked to Jonesy's bed.

Without looking up from the game, Jonesy replied, "Nope. Make yourself comfortable, though; we're gonna be at this for a while."

"Oh, really? 'Cause I was in the mood to make out with you, but if you wanna go ahead and play your stupid game—"

"Wyatt, Jude—out."

"But,  _dude_ ," Jude exclaimed, flabbergasted by Jonesy hitting pause, "what are me and Wyatt gonna do instead?"

"I don't care; you'll figure it out. Now get out of here so I can make out with my girlfriend!"

Wyatt sighed. "Fine."

Once the boys left, Jonesy got off the floor and led Nikki to his bed. After they sat next to each other, he wagged his eyebrows up and down at her. "So, you wanted to make out with me, huh?"

A smirk overtook her lips. "Nah, I just needed to get those two out of the room so we could talk."

His shoulders slumped. "Oh."

"Yeah. So… what happened by the pool last night—"

"—was really, really,  _really_  fun," he said as he cozied against her.

"True, but now we really need to talk about it."

He stroked her cheek. "Can I at least kiss you a little bit before we talk, babe? You  _did_  say you came in here to make out with me."

"And you know  _why_  I said it."

"C'mon, babe." His voice was low and, despite his words, lacked a childish inflection. "Let's just make out and  _then_  I'll hear you out."

"You're gonna hear me out  _first_." Pause. "Then we'll make out."

"Deal," he said with a sly grin. "So, what are we talking about?"

"I just think after last night, we need to talk about—you know—sex."

Given that they'd been together for five months now, it would be ridiculous to assume that they had  _never_  discussed sex. Initially, upon realizing they couldn't go another cinematic sex scene without pretending the other wasn't in the room, they discussed the topic a bit and agreed to some boundaries. Though neither of them were virgins, they'd agreed to keep things tame enough by groping, French kissing, making out half-naked, and doing other things. However, last night's poolside encounter—wherein kissing turned into some scantily clad dry humping—meant revisiting this conversation. Boundaries needed reassessment.

"What about it?" he asked.

"For starters, as turned on as I am by you," she said, eliciting a suggestive grin from him, "I'm not ready to have sex with you yet."

"Oh." His lips fell into a frown. "I see."

"Don't sound so defeated. I didn't say you'll  _never_  have sex with me."

"Yeah, but it felt like we were gonna do it last night, y'know? We were all up on each other and grinding and, shit, I was hard as hell and I  _know_  you were wet."

"I was. Thanks for that riveting summary, by the way."

"You're welcome," he said, not feeding into her sarcasm. "Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but  _why_  don't you wanna sleep with me?"

"Because… even though my body's giving you all the signs that I'm ready to go, I'm still not there mentally." She paused to gather her thoughts as he peered at her, waiting for further explanation. "Jonesy, if I slept with you right now, you'd be my second, but you might as well be my first because that's how important you are to me."

He didn't know what he expected hear from her, but he knew he wasn't anticipating  _that_. "Whoa, really?"

She nodded her head. "Yes, really… For the record, when we were messing around last night, I was…  _close_."

He furrowed his brow. "You almost came?"

"Uh huh," she said. "That would've been my first orgasm with a guy."

"Wait, Stone never made you…?"

"I mean, we only hooked up one time, but it didn't happen for me. I didn't even try to fake it; it wasn't worth it."

"Wow, I knew that guy was a loser, but  _damn_." He suddenly felt smug for not only winning Nikki back, but also for outdoing her shitty ex.

"Yeah, he's definitely trash. Plus, he ended up getting back together with his ex within a week of me losing my virginity to him."

Jonesy sobered up. "Oh shit, Nik. I never knew that."

"Yep," she said as she looked away. "So, that's one reason why I want to take things slower with you. Not that I think you'll dump me as soon as you sleep with me, but because I have a lot of history with you and I don't want to throw that out of the window for sex. I just want you to take the time to get to know my body and for me to do the same for you."

He appeared cocky again. "I must be getting to know your body pretty well since I almost made you come last night."

" _Almost_  doesn't count. Besides, I can make myself  _actually_  come."

"Well, if you give me the chance to touch you, I'll make you come for the first time and  _every_  time."

" _Someone's_  confident."

"Totally," he said, "because I'm gonna learn what gets you off." He tapped her on the nose, making her chuckle. "So, since you wanna take things slow, what things are you comfortable with?"

"I mean, I'm fine with anything that doesn't involve actually having sex. Making out, dry humping… touching below the waist."

" _Sooooo_  anywhere between first and third base is fair game?"

"Why do you still use a baseball analogy to refer to sex? Besides, haven't the meanings behind the terms changed by now?"

"Isn't it still making out, groping, oral, and then having sex?"

Her expression and her tone went deadpan. "You're asking the wrong person."

"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter. I'm fine as long as I get to be with my babe."

"The feeling's mutual, Casanova." She felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips, but it dissipated at the thought of another issue. "But, since we're bound to do more than just touching… I think we should get tested first."

He furrowed his brow. "Are you trying to say that I have something?"

"No, Jonesy, I just—"

"Because I don't  _have_  anything."

She crossed her arms. "And how do you know that?"

"Because…" He finished that sentence by scratching the top of his head.

"Yeah, I thought so." She put her hand on his thigh. "Listen, I'm not insisting on getting tested to accuse you of anything. This is for my health  _and_  it's for yours. If I'm gonna be messing around with you, I'm not gonna do it blindly. I've had sex before, and you've probably had sex a  _million_  times already."

He cleared his throat and averted his eyes. "…My body count's only three."

She appeared amused. "Wow, that's lower than I was expecting. I thought you were such a player,  _Jonesmeister_."

"Technically, I'm more of a player at heart than in real life… That never leaves this room, by the way."

She winked. "Your secret's safe with me."

"But, I mean, just because I've only had sex with three chicks doesn't mean I haven't done other stuff."

"See,  _this_  is what I mean. We've obviously been involved with other people, so I just wanna make sure that, when  _we_  get involved, we're safe." She shrugged. "Just know that if you still don't want to get tested, then the most we'll ever do together is kiss and touch. No oral. No sex."

"Oh, I'm definitely gonna get it done then—not like I  _wasn't_  when you mentioned it, but now I totally am." As he thought about the testing process itself, his fears set in and his voice went hush. "T-There's no blood or needles involved… right?"

She hated to be the bearer of bad news. "I looked into it recently and some tests  _do_  involve getting blood drawn, but that's only to screen for certain STDs."

He gulped hard, blanching at the thought of getting his blood drawn.

Her hand rubbed against his thigh to ease him. She hoped to bring him back to a less-frightening reality. "Jones, don't worry," she told him in a calm voice. "We can go get tested together. I'll be there for you the whole time, okay?"

She stared at him, waiting for his petrified expression to change.

Though terrified at the prospect of getting stuck with a needle and seeing his own blood, his lips curled into a tiny smile. He couldn't count on himself to put his own mind at ease when it came to his hemophobia (and his claustrophobia), but he could  _always_  count on her to do so. Despite her clowning him for some of his actions or thoughts, she never made fun of his fears. Not once.

She stroked the side of his face, asking, "Are we good now?"

Her touch made him melt. "I think we're pretty great."

A warm chuckle escaped her lips.

He leaned in, pressing his mouth against hers. He kissed her slowly, not focusing on the intensity of the kiss or shoving his tongue in her mouth. He just wanted to make her feel special and appreciated.

"You're the best, baby."

"I can say the same about you, Casanova."

She pressed her lips against his again and again, finding herself unable to break the spell that was his kiss. They only parted to make themselves comfortable on his bed. She rested beneath him, with her head against his pillows.

He smiled down at her. "Looks like someone can't get enough of the Jonesmeister."

"Nope," she said with a knowing grin. "I just can't leave you alone." She pulled him close, initiating a deep kiss with him, hoping to feel like lightning again.

After parting, he asked in a gentle voice, "You wanna see where this goes?"

"Yeah," she said, keeping her voice soft, too. "I'd like that."

* * *

After getting kicked out of Jonesy's room, Wyatt and Jude stood in the hallway, trying to evaluate their other options for the night.

"Should we go in Jen's room?" Jude asked.

Wyatt shook his head. "As much as I like hanging with the girls, I don't wanna be around them right now. They're probably in there giving each other manicures or something; I'm not trying to get in on that."

"I dunno, bro—I wouldn't mind a clear coat on my nails."

Jude's unabashed approach to femininity always amused Wyatt (except for when he braided Wyatt's locs at one of their sleepovers). If Wyatt didn't know him any better, he'd mistake  _Jude_  for being the one with three older sisters and not himself. However, after inspecting his own nails, he said, "I guess a clear coat wouldn't  _hurt_ , but we'll talk to the girls about that later. I'm sure they're trying to do girly stuff to cheer Caitlin up."

"So, what're we gonna do for now?"

Wyatt shrugged. "We can always go downstairs and watch TV."

"That's cool with me."

As the two of them walked down the steps, Jude said, "I was so looking forward to that one mission on  _Fortwatch_  where you're in that jungle and you gotta fight all those aliens with nothin' but a pickaxe and a bottle of hairspray."

"I'm pretty sure whoever put that up was either trolling or modified the game."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Darn."

When they reached the bottom of the steps, Wyatt asked, "So, what should we watch?"

"Gameplay videos of  _Fortwatch_."

He sighed. As much as he had looked forward to playing that video game, Jude had looked forward to it times one hundred. It didn't help that Jude had addictive tendencies. If it wasn't weed, it was energy drinks. If it wasn't energy drinks, it was coffee. If it wasn't coffee, it was fries from Burger McFlipster's. If it wasn't fries from Burger McFlipster's, it was the damn game. "How about we watch something to take our minds  _off_  of  _Fortwatch_?"

Jude slumped (more than usual). "Fine." However, he stopped in his tracks as they made their way into the living room. His eyes lit up and his voice hovered above a whisper, trapped in a place of awe. "Dude, those are the super-sweet, super-unmistakable, super-HD graphics of  _Fortwatch_." If he could, he would have teared up. "It's so  _beautiful_."

Wyatt forgot his temporary annoyance with Jude's fixation on the game. He could only gaze at the television screen in admiration. "It really is."

"So," Jude started, "still think we should take our minds off the game?"

He eyed Robbie and Diego as they played the game, with their backs facing him and Jude, oblivious to their presence nearby. He then looked at Jude. "Hmm…"

"WWJD, man: What would Jonesy do?"

Jude was right: the graphics were phenomenal, the plot sounded amazing, the multiplayer features seemed dope, etc. Though he was more of a pacifist than a fighter, perhaps the game was worth fighting for. Wyatt took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't regret getting into a brawl with Jonesy's brothers. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but let's reclaim our game."

Jude chuckled. "Wicked."

* * *

_So Caitlin gets her heart broken and I finally get a text back—life is_ freaking  _swell._

Sydni sighed to herself after reading the message she got from Alejandro. It was nothing more than a simple  _hey_ , but it was enough to leave a bittersweet taste in her mouth. She remembered the backflip her stomach did after getting his number yesterday. She remembered the way the butterflies fluttered throughout her abdomen, the fluttering of their wings reminding her of applause. She remembered the summer heat that overcame her brown cheeks. Then she remembered the way her heart had ached for Caitlin.

Her heart especially ached now, seeing that her own victory with the guy she liked stemmed from Caitlin's loss. Now that she thought about it: Was it even a victory if a friend was wounded in the process?

Sydni's fingers hovered over her touchscreen keyboard, wondering if she should even reply to Alejandro. She looked up, sparing a glance at Caitlin and Jen, still contained within their own bubble. She then looked down at the simple  _hey_  that felt too complicated, too messy, too much.

She decided it would be best to turn off her read receipts and not reply to him right now. Texting him in the company of a casualty didn't feel right.


	3. Isolation

For the rest of the evening, Sydni tried not to overthink the Alejandro situation.

So, naturally, her mind went into overdrive about the ordeal.

She felt bad for leaving him on read, but she did what she had to do for Caitlin… or, at least, what she felt was right concerning Caitlin. She hated to belabor the point, but the idea of her gleefully texting Alejandro after obtaining his number through unfortunate circumstances made her feel like a hollow, shitty friend.

And it stung because she  _wanted_  him. She wanted a no-stress, no-pressure, low-risk-of-heartbreak fling for the summer. She wanted someone to vibe with. She wanted kisses and comfort and dates that set her heart aglow. He was supposed to the summerboy who could give these things to her before the air grew stale and brisk for the fall. She  _wanted_  him to be those things.

However, she recalled the time a few weeks ago where she wanted to impress her mom with her blog for the sake of proving herself as a writer, ultimately upsetting her new friends in the process. From that, she learned not to let what she desired stand in the way of her friends' feelings.

Since she didn't have Caitlin's say-so regarding Alejandro, until she saw that Caitlin was in a consistently better mindset—not just laughing here and there before returning to a state of wistfulness about Benj—she wouldn't make any moves on him. Caitlin had been there during Sydni's first interaction with Alejandro and pushed Sydni to go for him, so it was only right to wait for Caitlin to give her the go-ahead.

_Yeah, I'm gonna wait 'til she's feeling better. I think—_

Jen and Caitlin's giggling pulled Sydni outside her own mind.

While happy that Jen could fill Caitlin with joy again, it didn't detract from the fact that Sydni felt lonesome amongst the two of them. Since Nikki left the room already—albeit to talk to her boyfriend—Sydni decided she'd leave, too. She'd step into the hallway and relax on her phone, given that Jen and Caitlin wouldn't notice her disappearance. It was better to be in isolation by herself than be isolated amongst company, she figured.

Thus, with her mind made up, she slipped outside the room.

* * *

Now that Wyatt was onboard with "Operation: Get the Game Back So We Can Finally Play It," Jude strolled over to Robbie and Diego, standing beside the television instead of in front of it so he wouldn't  _totally_  obstruct their view. Plus, he wanted to marvel at the game up close if he was being honest with himself.

Jude looked onward, transfixed as the details of the game's jungle flora and fauna reflected in his blue irises. His mouth hung agape as he gazed onward. A mesmerized  _whoaaaaa_  dripped from his lips like drool.

Before he knew it, a technicolor pause screen filled his view.

"Dude, stop drooling on the carpet," Diego admonished with his face contorted into a sneer. "Shit's nasty."

He blinked hard and fell from his game-induced Cloud Nine, landing back in the Masterson-Garcias' living room, finding Wyatt beside him and Jonesy's brothers in front of him.

He laughed a dumb chuckle (that made Wyatt further believe he was still blazed as hell) and said, "Oops, my bad."

"What do you two even want?" Diego asked, cutting his eyes at them.

Wyatt opened his mouth, unsure of what would come out of it, but, luckily, Jude took over.

"We just wanted to—y'know—see what the game looked like, maybe even play it for a bit and see what's up."

"Yeah, uh huh, no," Diego said.

"Get lost, dorks," Robbie added.

"Bummer." Jude let his shoulders grow heavy and sink. "Well, we gave it a shot."

As Jude turned around and began walking away, Wyatt halted him in his tracks. His brow furrowed as he stared Jude in the face. "Jude,  _what_  are you doing?"

"Going back upstairs. We tried, bro."

That surely was a half-assed try. "That's it?  _That's_  how you were going to try and get the game back? What happened to WWJD?" he asked with air quotes. "That's not what Jonesy would've done." He huffed. "You had me thinking we were gonna really fight for it."

Jude pondered Wyatt's rant, really latching onto his words for the first time today. They spurred a sense of disappointment in him, yet also a swell of determination. "Y'know what? You're right, man. We've gotta fight for it. You gotta ask for permission, then ask for forgiveness."

Wyatt raised a finger as he noted, "I think it's 'ask for forgiveness, not permission.'"

"Yeah, what you just said."

After a long silence wherein he thought Jude was going to speak again—but instead they just gawked at one another, waiting for someone to talk—he asked, "So… are we gonna give this another try or what?"

"We're gonna give it another try, dude!"

Without even turning his head away from his game with Diego, Robbie asked, "Why are you two losers still down here?" from across the room, reminding the guys that they were merely feet away from their targets.

Jude and Wyatt glanced at each other and smirked, confirming nonverbally that they were going to give their operation a second go. Both of them stalked across the living room and blocked the game display.

"Alright, game's over," Wyatt declared, doing his best impression of Jonesy whenever he talked down to his brothers.

"Says who?" Diego asked, cocking an eyebrow and wondering if they were for real.

"Me and Wyatt, that's who, mini-dudes," Jude said, crossing his arms, also trying to look tough.

After Diego and Robbie tossed their controllers aside and stood up, Diego retorted, "Well, if you pussies are really 'bout it, you're gonna have to try and fight us for it."

Despite reeling at such crude language coming from a fifteen-year-old— _Jonesy really taught him everything he knows, I see_ —Wyatt said, "Then let's go."

* * *

As Jen chatted with Caitlin, her eyes looked above the top of Caitlin's blonde head to find Sydni striding out of her bedroom.

She instantly wanted to facepalm herself. In the process of trying to life Caitlin's spirits before the end of the night, she may have dampened Sydni's, realizing that she had no one to talk to since Nikki left the room.

 _Huh. I know Nikki said she was gonna talk to Jonesy, but she hasn't been back in a while. Hmm… Anyways—_ focus _, Jen. You've_ got  _to go talk to Sydni_.

She didn't want to sour Sydni's first sleepover with the gang by leaving her out, mainly because she made a mental note weeks ago to make her feel more included within the gang.

"Jen… are you okay?" Caitlin asked with her brows furrowing slightly, trying to discern what her best friend was thinking.

"Oh, yeah," she replied, "I'm fine. I just have to go do something real quick." She stood up and said, "I'll be right back," before heading for her bedroom door.

Once she stepped into the hallway, she looked to her left, finding Sydni sitting on the floor with her head buried in her cellphone.

"Hey."

Sydni turned her head, meeting her eyes with an expression that Jen couldn't quite figure out. It looked like discontent, but her tone didn't betray it when she said, "Hey. What's up?"

Jen sat on the carpet next to her, saying, "I just wanted to apologize for leaving you out earlier. I got so caught up in trying to help Cait feel better that I didn't realize that I was ignoring you in the process."

"Don't worry about it. It is what it is."

"You don't have to shrug it off. You can be disappointed in being left out. I'm not gonna judge you for it."

Sydni averted her eyes, pondering Jen's statement. She sighed. "Maybe I am a bit disappointed, especially since I wanna be there for Caitlin, too. I get that you two were friends long before I came along, but I felt kinda like a nonfactor."

"I'm sorry we made you feel that way."

"You don't have to keep apologizing." She offered a ghost of a grin. "I forgive you."

Jen smiled back. "Good."

After they stood up, the two of them hugged, but they quickly retreated when a muffled moan from Jonesy's bedroom sliced through the air.

Jen and Sydni stared at each other with eyes widened.

"Was that…?" Jen asked without daring to say her best friend's name.

Sydni slowly nodded. "Uh huh."

Neither of them could believe that they got caught in the crossfire of whatever was transpiring in Jonesy's room.

"So… sounds like they're… yeah," Sydni said.

Jen's head spun. Just being within  _earshot_  of her stepbrother and her best friend made her feel awkward. Even with the hallway walls and his bedroom door hiding their activities from the naked eye, she felt like a voyeur by proximity. "I can't even process this right now."

"Wanna head back to your room?" Sydni asked.

"Yeah… let's do that."

Before they could make their way back, a couple staggered thuds from downstairs grabbed their attention.

"Are we gonna be hearing noises all over the house all night?" Sydni asked, noticing a trend.

Jen huffed. "I hope not." Unlike the way she quickly brushed off the intimate sounds that crept into the hallway, her curiosity got the best of her regarding the noises downstairs. She had a lurking suspicion as to which friends were involved… "Come on,"—she motioned in Sydni's direction—"let's go investigate."

She followed Jen down the stairs, sliding her hand down the dark wood railing as she walked.

"What the hell?" Jen asked as she stepped into the living room, finding Wyatt and Jude sprawled on one side of the living room and her stepbrothers playing video games on the other side, seemingly unbothered. "What happened?"

"Tried to fight Jonesy's bros in the name of  _Fortwatch_ ," Jude croaked, cradling his abdomen as he laid on his back. "Didn't go so well."

Wyatt groaned as he rested on his side. "Savages, both of them."

"Uh,  _duh_ ," Jen said. "Jonesy and his brothers wrestle and fight all the time; plus, they try to drag me into it. Of  _course_  they're mindless savages."

"I'm never doin' this again. Next time they take somethin' I really want, they can keep it," Jude said before facepalming himself. "Aw, man, now I gotta buy another copy of the game."

"Let me know when you get it, so we can play it  _anywhere but here_ ," Wyatt said.

"Gotcha." Jude's eyes looked up and met Jen's. He smiled and lifted his arms in the air. "Can ya give me a little help, bra?"

Jen grabbed him and helped him onto his feet, prompting Sydni to follow her lead and do the same for Wyatt.

After Wyatt brushed residual lint and debris off his clothes, he asked, "So… what now?"

"You can always hang with us in my room," Jen offered. "We're just watching movies and talking. Cait also mentioned something about wanting to do some clay masks on everyone."

"Oooh, I'm down for that," Jude said. "I wanna see if it'll get rid of these blackheads I've been gettin'."

She shrugged. "It might. Cait  _swears_  by it now. She says it's 'a miracle in a jar.'"

" _Awesome_."

* * *

The four of them made their way upstairs (with Jude looking like an eager puppy at the prospect of the clay masks). After they all settled into Jen's bedroom, Sydni approached Caitlin as she rummaged through her baby-pink duffle.

"Hey, Cait, mind if I talk to you for a sec?"

"Not at all! Let me just find the clay jar really quick." After a few short moments, she pulled her hand out of the bag with a " _Got it!"_  She handed the alleged miracle jar to Jen, then asked Sydni, "So, what's up?"

She ushered Caitlin to follow her to a more secluded corner of Jen's bedroom. Once there, she fidgeted with the dainty silver bracelet around her wrist and said, "I've got to come clean about yesterday."

Caitlin's brows furrowed out of concern. "What about it?"

"Well, after Nikki and I went back outside after helping you, Alejandro saw me, and so we kinda started talking, and then he flirted with me, and then he asked for my number. I was just so…"—she trailed off, trying to grasp at the right word—"so  _swept away_  in the moment that I couldn't think of anything else. Then I remembered how you were sitting up here all heartbroken because of  _you know who_  and I've been feeling so bad about it ever since, Caitlin." She averted her gaze to the carpet; Caitlin's emerald eyes felt too scalding after the admission she just made. Upon realizing that all she did was incoherently ramble for a minute or two, she clarified, "Basically, what I'm getting at is if you don't want me to text Alejandro because of how I got his number, I'm willing to leave him alone if that means  _we're_  okay."

Caitlin gaped at her. "OMG, you got his  _number_?"

Sydni's eyebrows shot up (albeit concealed by her bangs). She sounded more  _excited_  than she anticipated. To think she expected Caitlin to be  _disappointed_  this whole time. "Wait, you're not upset?"

"Of course not! You've been into him since the summer started; I'm so happy for you." And, judging by the way she beamed, that last sentence rung true.

"So," she started, finding the courage to look Caitlin in the eye again, "you don't mind if I start talking to him?"

"Go for it!" She smiled a little more wistfully. " _Something_  good might as well happen after yesterday."

"You sure? After all, I can put everything on hold until—"

Caitlin put her hands on Sydni's shoulders, cutting her off. "The only thing I want you to do is text him and give me  _all_  the details. I'm just gonna live vicariously through you until I find another guy," she said with a giggle punctuating her sentence.

Although feeling silly for making the issue bigger in her head, Sydni giggled too, feeling more at ease now that she talked to Caitlin. "Fair enough," she replied with a grin.

* * *

Nikki couldn't help the way her eyes shut and mouth widened beneath Jonesy. Amid the sounds that poured from her open mouth like honey—sweet and rich and languid—she could feel the way his eyes burned her skin in suspended disbelief. After all, this was the first time she ever moaned and moved like  _that_  in his presence.

As she blinked and met reality once more, her suspicions were confirmed true. He looked dumbfounded.

"Did you just…?"

Her eyes became less dazed; she smiled and met his fascinated gaze. "Yeah."

"Wow. That… That was hot."

"Isn't that what you say about everything?"

He shook his head. "Nah, not everything. Certain things may be hot, but  _you're_   _gorgeous_."

Oh, how this boy delighted and pleasantly surprised her with the things that rolled off his tongue. She would have turned red if her face wasn't already flushed. "You charming bastard."

"That's my middle name."

"Huh, I thought it was Ric—"

He shut her up with a tender kiss against her lips—warm, slow, and intimate. She smirked the whole time.

 _That was too easy_ , she thought.

When they parted, she ran her fingers through his hair, further mussing what was already a mess of blue-black. "Tonight's been really fun, Jonesy. I'm really glad we got to…  _talk_."

"Yeah," he said as he delighted in the way she played with his hair, "that was a  _great_  talk. Definitely took my mind off  _Fortwatch_."

She chuckled. "Glad I could distract you from something sci-fi for once." She reveled in the moment before wondering, "So… since—you know—you did that for me, should I do the same for you?"

"Nah, babe, I'm good… If I'm being honest, I kinda just wanted to do something nice for you."

She gave him a tender smile.

"Besides, I'm totally gonna beat off thinking about this when everyone leaves tomorrow. Maybe even later if I can sneak it in."

 _Of course_. "Thanks for your honesty," she deadpanned.

He winked. "Anytime."

Her eyes rolled, more so in a playful way than a way that betrayed annoyance. She pushed him on the chest gently, prompting him to get off her and instead relax on his side. She then got out of his bed. While stretching her arms—since her muscles grew taut from being beneath him in bed for so long—she said, "I think it's time to head back out and see what the gang's up to."

"Yeah, you're right," he said as he stood up alongside her. "Huh, I wonder what Jude and Wyatt did since we kicked them out."

"They probably watched TV or something."

"Yeah, probably."

The two of them walked out his room, only to hear laughter and chatter coming from across the hall.

"Wanna go see what's going on Jen's room?" Nikki asked her boyfriend, curious as to what their friends had done in their absence.

However, Jonesy's curiosity remained in a different room. "You go ahead, babe. I'll meet you guys in there soon."

She followed his eyes and, upon discovering his fixation on the bathroom, decided to toy with him. "What's wrong, Jonesy? Gotta 'go'?"

"Uh,  _yeah_. I gotta go beat my meat like it owes me money. Screw waiting 'til tomorrow."

She snorted as her boyfriend walked to the bathroom door. "Have fun."

"Oh, I will."

* * *

About ten minutes later, Jonesy exited the bathroom, feeling significantly lighter leaving than when he entered. Nikki had no  _idea_  how she made him feel… Okay, perhaps she could make an accurate guess about how he felt—likely being able to articulate it way better than he ever could—but it didn't detract from the fact that he felt a multitude of things with her. He felt like lightning whenever she was around. Maybe  _that's_  why he felt so heavy when he set foot in the bathroom. He had to let out all the lightning amassing in his body from being around her. (That, and he  _desperately_  needed to rid himself of the pressure building in the lower half of his form.)

Nevertheless, he finished tending to himself and wanted to see what the gang was up to. Once he opened his stepsister's bedroom door, his eyebrows rose at what he found. A layer of grey-green adorned all of his friends' faces.  _Huh_  was the only word he could muster.

"We're doing clay masks! Wanna join?" Caitlin asked.

He winced. "I dunno. Aren't face masks and stuff for chicks?"

Jude raised a finger and interjected, "Skincare is gender-neutral, bro."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Caitlin said.

"Don't act like you're above wearing a face mask, Mr. I-Worked-at-the-Mall's-Spa," Nikki teased.

As annoying as his girlfriend could be, she raised a valid point. He shrugged and took a seat between Nikki and Wyatt. "Fuck it, I'm in."

"Thought so," she said.

"Where's that clay at?" he asked, looking around the group for the jar in question.

Wyatt looked by his side and found it, passing it to Jonesy.

"Thanks," he said before noticing something reflective on Wyatt's hands as he handed the jar to him. "…Are you wearing clear nail polish, bro?"

He sighed, hoping Jonesy wouldn't tease him about it. He'd endured enough embarrassment at the hands of the Garcias today. "Yeah."

However, seeing that his homeboys had on nail polish and facial masks, he wouldn't make jokes about any of it tonight. He warmed up to the idea of doing something outside of his comfort zone tonight, especially after earlier with Nikki. "Nice," he said, giving Wyatt a thumbs up. He then turned his attention to Caitlin. "So, princess, wanna do my nails after I get this gunk on my face?"

Caitlin rapidly clapped her hands, happy to convert him into a believer of good skincare for the night. "I'd love to!"

Thus, for the remainder of the night, the gang worked on their skin (later taking goofy group photos in their masks), talked shit throughout an entire movie, listened to Jude turn a conversation about  _Fortwatch_  into an alien conspiracy, and started a pillow fight with him over said conspiracy until they tired themselves out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out the story soundtrack below:
> 
> "Say So" by Terror Jr (from Bop City)  
> "Goldmine" by Kilo Kish (from K+)  
> "Sexual" by NEIKED and Dyo  
> "Glitter" by Tyler, The Creator (from Flower Boy) [Explicit]  
> "Dreams" by Dua Lipa (from Dua Lipa)  
> "Doing It" by Charli XCX and Rita Ora (from Sucker)


End file.
